Inmates holding 6 hostages at Pskov penitentiary

Two inmates from a penal colony located in the village of Seryodka in Russia’s northwestern Pskov region on Friday took six female hostages, a local police source said.

All of the hostages are employed at the colony’s medical unit. Police have so far managed to release one woman. She said the inmates, both of them serving sentences for murder, were not abusing the hostages. The inmates are armed with knives and scalpels, she added.

Sounds of explosions and shooting were briefly heard in the colony, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the scene.

“The one asphalt road and several dirt roads leading to the colony have been sealed off,” the police source said, adding that about 60 traffic police are involved in the operation.

According to unofficial information, the colony’s administration has started negotiations with the inmates. Pskov media said they are demanding 40,000 rubles ($1,400), alcohol and a car.

ST. PETERSBURG, May 27 (RIA Novosti)

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